The Inspiration List
Every day I make a list, either written or in my mind, which has helped me to move forward in times of struggle. When I don’t feel inspired, looking at this list has made a great difference. I hope my
Why should we believe in the Vedas?
The vedic wisdom works in a way that often our contemporary scientific knowledge does not work. The scientific knowledge has led to a significant ability to manipulate and control the external world and that is resulted in technology, but the
Four Principles of Community Building
Many years ago a great Krishna Bhakti teacher, Bhakti Tirtha Swami, penned the following 4 principles of community building: 1. Treat everyone you encounter as if the success or failure of your spiritual life depends on the quality of your interactions with
COVID-19 Finding opportunities in problems
KOVIDA 2020 #1 COVID to Kovida Latest: COVID has hit 200,000 cases worldwide, triggering over 8,000 deaths. In Sanskrit, the word “Kovida” refers to one who is intelligent, wise and philosophically inclined. To appropriately respond to COVID, we each have to become Kovida.
Destructive enlightenment
When a budding sculptor approached his master for guidance, he received some cryptic advice. After quizzing him on his purpose, the young craftsman replied: “More than anything else, I would like to sculpt a beautiful elephant.” Without the blink of
Proud Block
Pride is a formidable block on the road of spirituality. When it rears its ugly head it’s painstakingly obvious – to ourselves and others. We may deny it, cover it up or justify it, but deep down we know something
Finding your ‘dharma’
In recent times, a common theme keeps surfacing in our spiritual circles: the need to find yourself, your purpose, nature, contribution and calling. Here’s an exercise: grab a piece of paper, pick up a pen, and quickly scribble down your
Psychological Atheism
Atheists come in a variety of shapes and sizes: Default Atheists – those who never really thought about it, and hence don’t really believe it. The big questions don’t resonate with them, and blindly accepting the absence of spiritual phenomena justifies
The spirituality of money
I recently connected with a childhood friend who also became a monk. As you can imagine, we had lots to talk about, and lots in common. In his tradition, one of the monastic vows is to never touch money; and